Company tied to sled dog slaughter subject of 65 SPCA orders

Kim Pemberton, Postmedia News02.04.2011

The dog-sled operator responsible for the massive cull in April 2010, has just been kicked off the board of Mush with P.R.I.D.E., an international organization for the humane care of sled dogs. Bob Fawcett, an award-winning sled dog racer, is shown in this photo during the 2010 Bootleg Sled Dog Races in Kimberley, B.C. in early February 2010.

The BC SPCA issued 65 orders against Howling Dog Tours in January 2006 regarding the health and welfare of its sled dogs.

But because the company made all the required changes, the SPCA was powerless to seize the animals and did not have the authority to shut down the business.

The business, which now falls under the parent company Outdoor Adventures Whistler, has been the focus of intense public criticism this week after news became public that 100 of its approximately 350 sled dogs were slaughtered following a downturn in business after the Olympics.

The cull came to light because of a successful WorkSafeBC claim for post-traumatic stress disorder by Robert Fawcett, the employee who killed the dogs over two days last April.

The orders the SPCA made in 2006 related to dogs being tethered for too long on chains and not getting enough exercise. Other orders were written after dogs were found to be emaciated, lacking dental care and when there were concerns about the dogs' housing and lack of socialization.

"We'd go and do an inspection and an order to fix something was always complied with so the dogs couldn't be taken into protection (of the SPCA)," said Marcie Moriarty, head of the SPCA's cruelty investigation division.

The SPCA was dealing with Fawcett at the time, who was the general manager and a director with Howling Dog Tours. He is now under investigation for animal cruelty.

While on leave for stress, but still living on site at the compound, Fawcett made his own complaint on July 12, 2010, about the "health and welfare" of the sled dogs.

However, the SPCA did not visit the site at that time, because it didn't have the staff and was overwhelmed with other calls, said Moriarty. The concerns were discussed over the phone with Joey Houssian, a director of Outdoor Adventures. The complaint was not substantiated and no orders were written.

Houssian did not return repeated calls for an interview, but Outdoor Adventures issued a joint statement Wednesday with Fawcett, who agreed to the following facts: That in mid-April, in a conversation with Houssian, the employee estimated 50 dogs would be euthanized; the dogs being put down were "too old" or "sick" or "not adoptable." The statement also said efforts had been made for the dogs to be adopted both before and after mid-April.

The cull happened on April 21 and April 23, 2010.

The statement said: "There were no instructions given to Mr. Fawcett as to the manner of euthanizing dogs on this occasion, and Mr. Fawcett was known to have very humanely euthanized dogs on previous occasions."

Meanwhile, Whistler RCMP are investigating what they say is an increasing number of death threats over the deaths. The threats are directed at employees of Outdoor Adventures — at people who had absolutely no involvement in the deaths of the dogs, said police.

"I understand these allegations have touched a nerve in the community and across the country, and rightly so," said RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen. "We support the public's right to express their feelings of outrage and concern in a peaceful manner.

"But let's be clear on this: no one has the right to threaten to harm or kill someone they suspect could have been responsible or involved."

Police said charges of uttering threats would be laid at "the first opportunity" and carry a potential sentence of jail time.

The threats have been made in person, by phone and through social media, said police.

The Vancouver Sun did not initially identify Fawcett due to concern for his apparent fragile mental state, but he identified himself publicly on Wednesday when he released the statement with Outdoor Adventures.

The company also issued a news release this week stating Outdoor Adventures took operational control in May 2010 of Howling Dog Tours and, with professional consultation and new leadership, made significant changes to the business to ensure the humane treatment of the dogs and to improve safety protocols.

The company also released a veterinarian report by David Lee of Coast Mountain Veterinary Services, dated Dec. 1, 2010, which reads in part: "Overall, I am very pleased at the substantive improvements seen at the facility and have no concerns about the dogs' quality of life or for the care they are provided."

The report noted the proportion of dogs with medical conditions was of lower frequency than noticed on previous inspections and while most of the dogs were in excellent physical health "multiple individual concerns were identified," predominantly concerning fractured and/or abscessed teeth in the dogs.

Lee also noted most of the dogs had transitioned from individual tethers to group pen facilities.

Meanwhile, this week Tourism Whistler and Whistler Blackcomb announced they were suspending third-party bookings for all tours with Outdoor Adventures. At the same time, Outdoor Adventures announced it was voluntarily suspending its dogsled operations.

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